Erasto
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "beloved" or "lovely".
Name Census estimates that about 138 living Americans carry the first name Erasto. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Erasto today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Erasto births was 1995 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Erasto. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
138
~ 1 in 2,483,727 Americans
Peak year
1995
9 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2016 SSA rank
#12,789
Tracked since 1952
Census
Erasto in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 919 people with the first name Erasto, which placed it at #13,223 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#13,223
National first-name rank
People counted
919
919 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
94.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Erasto
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erasto is Hispanic at 94.7%. The next largest groups are Black (2.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Erasto described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Erasto at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.7% · 870
- Black or African American2.6% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 15
- White1.0% · 9
- Two or more races0.1% · 1
Popularity
Erasto: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Erasto from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 52 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Erasto by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Erasto during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Erastos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Erasto
The name Erasto is derived from the Greek name Erastos, which means "beloved" or "lovable." It has its origins in ancient Greece, where it was a popular name during the Classical period, which spanned from the 5th century BCE to the 4th century CE.
In ancient Greek mythology, Erastos was the name of a young man who was deeply loved by the goddess Aphrodite. The name also appears in several ancient Greek texts, including works by the playwrights Aristophanes and Euripides.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Erasto was Erasto of Scepsis, a Greek grammarian and philosopher who lived in the 3rd century BCE. He was a student of the famous philosopher Ariston of Chios and wrote several works on grammar and philosophy.
During the Byzantine era, the name Erasto was commonly used among Greek Christians. It is believed that Saint Erasto, a disciple of Saint Paul, helped spread Christianity in the region of Philippi in modern-day Greece.
In the Renaissance period, the name Erasto gained popularity in Italy, where it was often spelled as Erasto or Erasto. One notable bearer of the name was Erasto Viollier, an Italian painter who lived in the 16th century and was known for his religious and mythological works.
Another significant figure with the name Erasto was Erasto Gallo, an Italian physician and philosopher who lived in the 16th century. He was a prominent figure in the Italian Renaissance and wrote several works on medicine and natural philosophy.
In the 18th century, Erasto Andrea Cicognini was an Italian playwright and librettist who wrote several operas and comedies. He was a prominent figure in the Commedia dell'Arte tradition and is remembered for his contributions to Italian theater.
Throughout history, the name Erasto has been used across various cultures and regions, although it remains most closely associated with its Greek origins and the various individuals who bore this name in ancient Greece and the Byzantine era.
People
Erasto + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Erasto as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Erasto: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Erasto?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 138 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Erasto going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,483,727 US residents.
Is Erasto a common name?
We classify Erasto as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 145 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Erasto most popular?
The single biggest year for Erasto was 1995, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Erasto is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Erasto in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 919 people with the name Erasto, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,223 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Erasto in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Erasto?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Erasto appears almost entirely male. Of the 922 people counted with this name, 99.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Erasto?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erasto is Hispanic at 94.7%. The next largest groups are Black (2.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Erasto most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Erasto in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.7% (870 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Erasto in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Erasto a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Erasto in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Erasto still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Erasto in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Erasto can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Erasto?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.